Yesterday I received my free advance copy of the new Inspire Bible after winning a contest on the Inspire Bible Facebook page, and I wanted to post a review on my blog about it so others can get a glimpse of it before it releases on March 22. I was really excited to receive the hardcover version of this Bible, and it is definitely better in person than anything I have seen and exceeded my expectations.
The hardcover has the butterfly pattern on the endpapers, which initially drew me to this Bible when I first saw it a couple of weeks ago, since butterflies are one of my favorites. There is an imitation leather version with a fully-illustrated cover and simpler design on the endpapers as another option.
The actual pages of the Bible are still thin compared to normal coloring books, but slightly thicker than my ESV double column journaling Bible. You can see some shadowing of the pre-printed illustrations, but I didn’t find this too bothersome. On the blank pages, the margins are lined, and on pages with illustration, the margins are unlined. The Inspire Bible is also about an inch taller, since it is single column and the font size is larger at 8.65 point font. Since this is my first single column journaling Bible, I don’t know how it would compare to other single column versions.
Another thing that I was happily surprised about was the Index of illustrations in the back. This is very useful for finding each page with an illustration in both the Old and New Testaments.
The New Testament had more full page illustrations in it than the Old Testament, including the only two-page one-illustration spread (there are other places in which illustrations are on a two-page spread, but they are two separate illustrations).
Another thing I liked about the illustrations themselves is that they vary in style throughout the Bible. Florals, birds, lettering, scrolls, hand-drawn scenes, mini castles, crowns, sheep, and even a deer are just some of the things to be found. But there is also plenty of space to add my own illustrations, lettering, embellishments, and journaling. There are over 400 illustrations according to the publisher, which is only about one-third of this Bible. For the most part there was a good balance between blank and illustrated pages, but some parts in the Old Testament I noticed were a bit sparse on the illustrations, while the New Testament is on the heavier side for the illustrations to blank pages ratio.
One thing that I don’t like so much is that some of the more intricately detailed illustrations have very small details that are hard to color unless you have super sharp or thin points on your colored pencil. I don’t have much experience with new adult coloring books, but I think this is a common problem, and I wouldn’t consider it a deterrent to getting this Bible. Another drawback is that I would consider both the outer cover, endpapers design, and a majority of the illustrations to be on the feminine side, which may prevent some people, especially boys and men, from wanting to own this Bible. I hope that eventually a more neutral design will be offered.
Overall, I highly recommend the Inspire Bible, and had I not received it for free by winning their contest, I would have eventually purchased it myself. To order your own Inspire Bible from Amazon, click here (affiliate link).
Please note this post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means I receive a small commission when you purchase through the link at no additional cost to you. All pictures and opinions in this blog post are my own. I was not asked to do this review or compensated in any way in exchange for a review; I merely wrote this to share my personal feelings on this new Bible for others. I won my free copy on my own merit.
Since I last posted, my husband got me a new journaling Bible as an early birthday present so that I could finally have a wide-margin Bible in which to do my art and journaling. I got the 
When I got my new Bible, I decided that I wanted to journal through it by doing one entry per book of the Bible each day. For Part 1, I will post my pages in Genesis through Ruth and briefly explain my process per page.
Genesis: I wanted to do a galaxy page in my new Bible for the beginning of Genesis. As I was using my new waterbrushes to add the color to the page, these song lyrics were going through my head: “God of wonders beyond our galaxy, You are holy, holy. The universe declares Your majesty, You are holy, holy. Lord of heaven and earth.” I decided to use some of these lyrics and write them on the page.
Exodus: I love to paint flowers, so I knew the next page I did needed to have flowers. I traced the flowers first in pencil, added watercolor, then once dry traced over my lines in black gel pen. I’ve decided that I like doing double lines because it helps make any wonkiness look intentional (and sometimes it is). This page helped me decide that my style is simple, whimsical, and imperfect with lots of color. I also like to highlight my verse or passage on each page so that I can remember exactly what I was meditating on while illustrating.
Leviticus: As I was doing the watercolor on this page, I really did not like how it was coming out. I thought that this might be a page I end up hiding because it doesn’t turn out. However, I just trusted the creative process and slowly waited for the paint to dry. I added the outlines, a simple stamping of the word “holy” and some washi tape. When it was finished, it turned out to be one of my favorite pages! Because I wasn’t quick to try and “fix” it by adding lots of extra things and just kept it simple, I feel that my patience salvaged the page.
Numbers: When I realized that this popular blessing was in the book of Numbers, I knew I had to do a sunflower page; “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.” I wanted to rewrite part of the verse into the margin, but I loved the simplicity of the sunflower so much that I decided to leave it alone. Again, keep it simple. I later wrote out the verse in my prayer journal.
Deuteronomy: This page is really special because it contains my daughter’s tiny hand, and I will be able to flip back to this page as she grows and remember when she was this size. This passage in Deuteronomy talks about not forgetting what the Lord has taught you and passing it down to your children; my prayer is that my daughter will know and love Jesus one day, and I hope that as she sees me Bible journaling, she will be able to learn to love His word from me. For this page I used watered down pink and white acrylic paints to create an ombré effect. I traced and watercolored my daughter’s hand then added it in with washi tape so I would be able to lift it up and read the words underneath.
Joshua: This page and saying was inspired by several other Bible journalers. “If you trust God with the results, you have to trust God with the process.” The fall of Jericho seems “normal” to anyone who has grown up listening to the story, but if you stop to think about the process God used to help the Israelites defeat Jericho, it’s really quite strange. Sometimes God works in ways we don’t understand, and in the midst of the process, I often feel like God doesn’t know what He is doing. But God does know, and I have to trust Him in the process just as much as when I see the end result.
Judges: This was the first page I did with my new watercolors and I had so much fun trying out some new colors that I haven’t used before. I also used my new alpha stamps to stamp out the word “Melody.” I did some simple lettering, added a few alpha stickers at the bottom, piano washi tape, and finished with a few music notes.
Ruth: When it came time to do my journaling for Valentine’s Day, I happened to be at the book of Ruth for my next page to illustrate. This was an appropriate passage to do for Valentine’s Day, since three and a half years ago I “pulled a Ruth” by sending a Facebook message to a “friend” after feeling prompted by God, which led to my happily ever after with my best friend and now husband! When I was single, I studied this passage a lot, as it tends to be the thing to do, but the main thing I learned from my various studies is that the point of this story is not about a woman finding a husband under what seems to be impossible circumstances; it’s about our Great Redeemer saving us in an impossible way so that we can be joined to Him forever! What better way to celebrate a day about love than to reflect on the great love that God lavishes on us by redeeming us in our sin and saving us for a life of purpose for Him.
As I journal through this Bible, I have made the decision to try to keep the text as visible as possible. I know some people use their journaling Bible differently and don’t mind covering up the words, and that is perfectly okay too. It’s a personal decision because Bible journaling is about YOUR personal journey. I want to be able to take my Bible everywhere with me and still be functional as far as reading the text from it, and that is why I have chosen to keep it visible. Maybe someday I will have another journaling Bible that I just use for art journaling and don’t worry about covering the words so much. But whether I cover the text or not, the most important aspect of this form of art worship is that I am writing God’s word on my heart. God wants me to know Him and to know His word, and I am getting to know Him more intimately when I illustrate my faith.
I just got some watercolors and acrylic paint recently so that I could start painting in my Bible. I felt like I couldn’t quite get the look and colors I wanted with the colored pencils by themselves, especially since often times I’m coloring over words in my study Bible (non-journaling Bible), so I wanted to try painting to see if I liked that better. And the answer is definitely yes!
The first page I did with my new, $5 set of watercolors was paint this sunrise at the end of the book of Daniel. The last verse is a foreshadowing of how one day we will rise in Christ as believers, so painting a sunrise fit perfectly with this verse. I drew the image on first in pen, then did the watercolor. After it dried, I went back over the lines in pen then stamped the words “You will rise.” This is the first watercolor I have done in over 10 years at least, so watching a brief tutorial beforehand really helped.
I have also been painting a little bit with acrylic paint (Apple Barrel for $0.50 each at Walmart). I don’t like acrylic as much as watercolors, but it’s fun to get a more solid paint look on the page. 
So far I haven’t had any issues of bleed through with either acrylic or watercolor paints, and I am using an NIV study Bible with traditionally thin Bible pages. Watercolor seems to be my favorite so far, which means I definitely see more watercolor pages in my future as I still discover my style. As my first month of Bible journaling almost comes to a close, I have found verses that I didn’t know were there, I’ve seen old favorites in a new light, and I have felt such freedom to express myself through this form of creative worship. I look forward to my Bible reading time, and I feel as though God is renewing me through this process, which has come at a time when I really needed it. 
I just recently posted about 
I am currently reading through Genesis, as well as occasionally reading in Psalms and John, so that is where most of my pages are from. I already showed my first page in the previous post, so check it out to see it.
Most of my pages are just colored pencil and pen, but I’ve been slowly adding some stamp ink in, as well as some alphabet stamps.
The next thing I would like to try is watercolor, so that I can add even more color to my pages.
Some of my inspiration comes from social media, and the rest is just my own doodling.
I especially like words/lettering, flowers, and trailing vines. In fact most of the doodling found in my past journals contain one of these elements. 
I am excited to see my illustrating improving and developing the more I practice, as well as my confidence and creativity growing. I just have to say that this experience so far has been an example of growth for me, because this is the most open and public I have ever been with my journaling and personal devotion methods. I am usually a very private person when it comes to my journals, so this has taken me out of my comfort zone. However, it has also helped me to be passionate again about spending time in prayer and God’s word, so I am happy for the change taking place, and I hope that I can encourage others through my openness to be open too and express their faith in new creative ways.
Since I’m a crafty person in general, I was surprised to find several supplies I already had to get started. I pulled out my NIV Study Bible that my parents gave me several Christmases ago, gathered up some colored pencils, and started to draw. I have had this Bible for awhile and it has sentimental value to me, so I was even more excited to make it very personal and expressive of myself. I started in Genesis and I was surprised at how easy it was to draw once I started. I decided to stick with colored pencils and mostly supplies that won’t completely obscure the writing. I mostly draw, color, and write in the study notes section and the margins. 
After a couple of days of illustrating in my Bible with colored pencils, I started hunting around to see if I could find more supplies. Luckily I found two stamp ink pads (Colorbox archival pigment ink), an old used-up gift card, and a felt tip archival pen. I flipped my Bible open to Psalm 103, one of my favorites, pressed the old gift card into the ink pad, and started spreading it across the page. So fun! I had found this technique online and it is typically used with acrylic paints, but it worked great with the stamp ink too, and no bleeding through to the other side of the page either. Same with the felt tip pen–the one I had is one designed for card making, so no bleed through. 
Another easy way that I found to add color and design to my Bible is to print out premade designs, color, then tape in (I didn’t have any glue, so tape for now). This allowed me to use some colored Sharpies too without having to worry about bleed through or ruining multiple pages. 
Lastly, I wanted to have a colorful Bible cover, so I looked up a tutorial on Pinterest, measured my Bible, and started sewing. I used a piece of remnant fabric that I purchased several months ago but was sad to discover wasn’t very big. Thankfully, it was just the right size to make a cover, and I am so happy I was able to put this beautiful fabric to use.
Kountingsheep 